Volume2, No. 2, August 2003
Does the Varian Mechanism Work?--Emissions Trading as an Example


Yasuyo Hamaguchi*
Faculty of Economics, Kyoto sangyo University, Japan


Satoshi Mitani
Matsui Securities Co., Ltd., Japan


T atsuyoshi Saijo
Institute of social and Economic Research, Osaka University, Japan
Abstract

This paper investigates whether Varian's(1994) compensation mechanism can work in a laboratory. The results show that this mechanism does not work as in the theory. We found that the magnitude of penalties crucially affects subjects' behavior.

Key words : emissions trading; compensation mechanism; experiments
JEL classification : C91; D62; Q25